


Before and After

by A Carnegie (orphan_account)



Series: Grace/Ramona [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Might as well read it as OC, OOC, don't-read-if-you-find-it-disturbing, fem!groot, fem!rocket racoon, half-racoon-half-human!rocket, half-tree-half-human!groot, one-sided peter quill/rocket racoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 14:51:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2656025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/A%20Carnegie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Grace and Ramona are in love with each other and Peter falls fruitlessly for Ramona, and then something happens to Grace that makes Ramona cry. Gender change and settings change. Don't read if this is disturbing for you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before before

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the comics, movies or the characters!

Chapter 1 Before before

I glanced at Ramona from across the room and tried not to stare. Her wavey brown hair was pulled into a ponytail that dropped to her shoulders, but there were still small locks of hair resting beside her cheeks. Her hazel eyes were focused on a delicate gadget. The intricate piece came to life when she handled it. I turned around and smiled, ready to head back to my room.  
"Fuck!" I swung back just in time to hear another curse slip from her beautiful red lips. I sighed as I watched her pull out a gun and fire at the gadget, sending every bit of it into the air. Her pale cheeks now wore a light shade of blush.  
"What the hell are you doing?! Are you alright?" I asked. I can't say Ramona is a lady by common definition. She swears; she can be violent when the situation needs her to be; she aims perfectly with any weaponry; she is tough is what I would say. After all those years being a genetic experiment subject, she moved on. The only thing is that I can see traces of her trauma, but really anyone can, because she has built a protective shell around herself. I don't think she lets anyone inside. Other than that, she's doing fine. It's just that she needs security, and I am more than willing to protect her, although I seldom say so.  
"Yeah I'm fine." She stood up, took off the goggles and shrugged. Her tail raised in curiosity and probably alert. Yes, she has the fluffy tail of a raccoon. It was what the experiments left on her, but it only makes her more lovely and, if possible, approachable.  
I raised my eyebrows and let my eyes follow the path down her leather jacket and jeans to what was left of the hardware.  
"Really. It happens." She frowned, her tail swung down and then up again, "Be glad I never take it out on anything else" She added, "or anyone."  
"Okay. Just so you know, the trash can is just beside you." This time I smiled.  
"Don't smile like that humie." She patted me on the shoulders and went away, leaving me in the room alone. What was I here for? Oh, I had to grab my Star Lord mask.


	2. Chapter 2 Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Implicit ero warning!*

Chapter 2 Before  
Ramona isn't quite a petite girl. The mechanical prodigy stood at 5'7", but then there's her roommate and good friend Grace. Grace is tall, quiet and, just as her name suggests, elegant. Unfortunately Grace was also subject to human genetic experiments, and they made her part tree part human. Once when Grace was in a good mood she told me she loved how the experiments turned out on her. Her ability to generate branches, leaves and flowers out of nowhere, the green tinge in her extra-long dark hair, and how she could turn to photosynthesis when food supplies run low. There were painful memories, she said, but that was probably why she and Ramona made good companions. Sometimes I think Grace and Ramona are more than friends. Sometimes they would hold hands; Ramona blushes when Grace touches her waist or shoulders; Grace looks at me in what appears to be a mixture of jealousy and relief when I carry a wounded Ramona back to the ship. When the two of them go on missions together it always feels like they're so close no one gets in between them, and I have to break the idea that Ramona shuts people out of her mind. But then Gamora says it's a thing between girl friends I won't get, and I see hope in me and Ramona.  
One night when I was passing Ramona and Grace's room--they are roommates because there isn't enough space--I heard a noise. A gasp, maybe. I knew I shouldn't do it but very slowly and quietly I got to their door. Ashamed and blushing I stooped down to look through the keyhole. My face burnt.  
There they were. Grace had Ramona against a wall, the two of them kissing each other on the lips. Grace's hands were on the small of Ramona's back, but the branches that grew out of her excitement wrapped their legs close together. When they were apart the branches quickly retreated and Grace pushed Ramona onto the bed, straddling her waist and spreading her legs. They kissed a lot more and I managed to catch parts of what Grace was saying.  
"You're sweet" she said in low voice, "I love it when you're so sensitive".  
My face burned even hotter. Mostly it was Grace speaking. I never knew she was this talkative. Ramona didn't have much words, unlike her usual self. Only her tail swept back and forth. I pulled away from the keyhole and sat down against the wall. I felt embarrassed and half-realized that I may not have Ramona after all. When I heard muffled moans and gasps that clearly came from her I could imagine her pale face blushing and her hands on her partner's shoulders. In an attempt to shake the image out of my head, I abruptly stood up and left.


	3. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Major Character Death!*

Chapter 3 After

The day Grace died Ramona cried. I had never seen her cry before. Grace died for the Guardians. Ramona said she died for the world, which always eventually forgot their heroes and heroines.  
I stood by her side and for a moment did not know what to do. Usually if she was upset Grace would be the one placing a flower band on her tail, and now that I know it was to tell Ramona how much she loved her, it made sense how Ramona seemed to put down her guard around Grace, and it made even more sense how sad she was when Grace was gone.  
Tears welled up in those hazel eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Her tail dropped and her ponytail felt less vibrant than before. I knew I shouldn't be thinking about it at the time but I was still struck by her beauty. Tentatively I reached out and used a napkin to wipe off her tears but it only made her cry more because that was exactly what Grace did before she died.  
"Hey", I finally said, lifting her chin and staring into her eyes, "I don't think she wants to see you cry".  
At that tears stopped falling and she look up at me. She broke into a sad laugh, "Well then what on Earth ..."

Ramona never got to finish her sentence, because I interrupted with a kiss.  
Instinctively she tried to push me away, but at the moment of weakness I managed to finish the kiss and pull apart. Her lips were soft and, to my surprise, they really were sweet.  
She looked surprised. When I thought she was going to start crying again I pulled her into another kiss, my arms wrapping around her waist. She was wearing a white sweater but her body was always warm despite the sweater, and I felt comforted by the warmth.  
She wasn't, however. Before I knew it I was some inches away from her. She frowned and the corner of her lips curled. Her eyes dropped.  
"Peter, thank you for being there for me." She looked up at me, "but this is not going where you think it is."  
I panicked.  
"Don't panic!" She almost said it like an order, then she calmed down, "I just..."her voice was shaking,"I just needed some space. I'm lesbian through and through and now's not a time for you to..."  
"I know. I'm sorry"  
"Especially not now!"  
"I get it if..."  
"I have loved her all my life! I mean we were just friends in the beginning and I didn't know her before that but she's the only one who knows what it's like! I can't believe I lost someone so important I thought with her amazing abilities I would be the one to go first!"  
My vision blurred.  
When everything cleared again she was gone.


	4. After after

Chapter 4 After after

Ramona was nowhere to be found for a couple of years. I asked around for information, but after a while I gave up. Who would find her if she didn't want to be found, anyways?

Then I saw her one night in the alleys. It was winter and only the tip of her tail could be seen from under her coat. When I spotted her from behind her tail was swinging in a happy mood and her brown wavy hair was longer than when she disappeared.

It had to be Ramona. I wanted to call out to her but I opened my mouth and no words came out.  
When she turned around she did not see me. I didn't see her either, because a group of men were closing in. I went back behind the wall and watched from a distance, in case she needed me. The men half chatted with Ramona in a thick, over-confident tone. When they pulled out a gun and asked for her money she laughed, the tip of her tail swinging more rapidly as I saw from the shade. She was almost delighted is what I would say.  
In an instant the gun dropped and Ramona left most of them unconscious on the ground. One of the robbers were crawling away when she clicked her own gun. He startled and turned back to face the smiling mechanic prodigy  
"I used to be more skilled than you are at this, ya know" She slammed the gun in the robber's face and knocking him out.  
I wanted to buy her a drink and watch how she never got drunk, but I didn't. I thought it would be best if I leave her be. She moved on, again, but she was back to her cold self distant from everyone else, and I knew better than to try closing the distance.  
She was walking away, her tail curling up into the coat. I noticed the flower band on her wrist, sighed and turned the other way.  
It was the last time I ever saw her.


End file.
